


Dancing- Prompt 29

by Name1



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Smut-ish, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Name1/pseuds/Name1
Summary: “You dance too, you know,” she said. “Every time we spar, whenever you fight, and any time you go through your drills; that’s dancing, you just don’t realize it. You follow your partner or the rhythm in your head just fine, so don’t give me that bullshit that you can’t dance.”
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 81
Collections: The Mandalorian Ficathon — April 2020





	Dancing- Prompt 29

**Author's Note:**

> Had an hour or so after the kids went to sleep, so here we are. Sorry for the typos.  
> Another day another prompt. Ficathon 2020.  
> My brain just kind of threw this out there, hope you enjoy.
> 
> Nothing but fluff, the whole fluff, and nothing but the fluff.

Din watched as Cara retraced her steps across the floor over and over again, holding the grumpy kid who outright refused to go to sleep. She walked the same well-worn path but her steps were different with every pass; sometimes she would sway back and forth and he found his eyes hypnotized by the sway of her hips and other times she would rock Bean against her shoulder. On occasion she would bounce him as she walked; not just with her arms, but with a motion that started all the way down in her knees. The kid was clutching the thin strap of her tank top as he rested his face and ears against her cleavage. _How was it possible to be jealous of a baby?_

She was humming some song that he had heard her hum many times before (but couldn’t make out the words to) in an effort to get him to finally drift off. His big dark eyes were sleepy, but they just wouldn’t close. They had been at this for hours, the pair of them taking turns and offering up suggestions that were getting more and more ridiculous as the night grew on. It didn’t make any sense; he would reach for Din, but when Din held him, he’d only reach for Cara again, and vice versa. _He didn’t get it; you can’t be held by two people at the same time…._

The kid seemed so content on Cara’s chest, but once again he reached for Din where he sat watching in a nearby chair until it was his turn again. “It’s obvious why he likes it when I hold him; he likes the comfort of my helmet, it’s reassuring to him.”

“Yeah I know,” she said. “It’s obvious why he likes sleeping on me too, and it’s not my face he’s interested in.” She looks down at her exposed chest where the kid has pulled down her shirt even more to bury his face against the softest part of her. “Typical man,” she said affectionately, as she ran her hand down a fuzzy ear, “even if he’s only a little one.”

Trying to amuse the kid whose forehead wrinkles were getting permanently set in, on her next pass she did an extra turn and playful spin that looked so surprisingly graceful that Din couldn’t help but let out a snort as he saw how desperate she was getting with her attempts to rock the kid to sleep.

“Laugh it up, Din. It’s your turn to dance with this little guy again in six minutes.”

“I don’t dance,” he said seriously, “but _you_ obviously do. Don’t stop on my account.”

“I’ll ignore that second thing you just said,” she says, and Din’s snorts out another sleep-deprived laugh.

“You dance too, you know,” she said. “Every time we spar, whenever you fight, and any time you go through your drills; that’s dancing, you just don’t realize it. You follow your partner or the rhythm in your head just fine, so don’t give me that bullshit that you can’t dance.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” he argued. “I mean like frivolous dancing or dancing with a partner.” She found it hilarious the way he said the word ‘ _frivolous_ ’ like it was a dirty word. “My hips don’t look like yours do, and they certainly don’t move like yours. I can’t sway the kid to sleep like you can.”

“Come here then, I’ll show you and then we’ll pass him off again.” She didn’t make it sound like he had much of a choice.

He knows he should say ‘ _no_ ’, but he can’t help himself. Anytime Cara asks him to move closer to her, he’ll say ‘ _yes_ ’ every time. ‘ _He’s going to make such a fool of himself,’ he thinks._

She sashays over to him, overemphasizing the movement of her hips for the kid’s benefit ( _purely for the kid, of course_ ) and he smiles at her actions.

He knows this is going to end with him looking like an idiot and he has the urge to perform some sort of damage control just so Cara isn’t too disappointed in his ability. “Just remember when I step on you, I told you I don’t dance.”

“Shut up and stand behind me. I’m not scared of your dumb feet.”

He moves to stand behind her and just waits. Cara is more than capable of taking the lead when she wants to.

He meets the kid’s eyes from where he’s resting over her shoulder now and it puts Din at ease. Cara’s swaying back and forth to some tune in hear head and she steps backward until her back presses against his front. “Put your hands on my hips and move when I move.”

“Are you going to hum that song you always say you’re not humming?”

She purposefully steps on his toe as she says, “I don’t hum.” ‘ _Guess not,’ he thinks._

“Like this?” he asks, when he places his hands on her hips. They’re more on her waist than her hips and she uses her free hand to wrap them more snugly around her so they’re resting lower on her hipbones.

“Move with me,” she says, as she slowly sways first to the right and then to the left. He follows her with his own hips pressed up against her backside and tries to focus on her words and not the feeling of her body against his.

They sway in silence for mere minutes, but it feels much longer as he gets lost in the movement with her. It reminds him of the ocean for some reason. It’s calming and relaxing moving like this with her and he can see why the kids likes it so much. _Speaking of which, he was finally asleep, both of his favorite people within reach._

“Don’t look at my feet, just move _with_ me,” is the only warning she gives him before she shuffles her feet slightly with each sway until they’ve somehow managed to rotate a full half turn using only little movements of their feet with each sway back and forth. Focusing only on her, he was able to move his feet in sync with hers so that they next managed a full turn without him trampling her feet. She was right. It _was_ a lot like fighting; they always moved so well together, and this was no different. _He hated it when she was right._

“Told you I knew you could dance,” she said smugly. _She loved being right._

“We’ve never had a reason to dance before,” he said honestly. He’s still pressed up against her but neither one of them seem in a hurry to move apart. He initiates the sway this time to keep up the ruse that this is purely for the kid’s benefit. She moves with him easily and without question.

“I’d argue we’ve danced around each other for ages,” she says, cheekily as she follows his movements. Their skin is on fire along every point that their bodies are in contact with one another.

_Okay, so he might have walked right into that one._ “I thought we don't talk about _that_ ,” he says, only slightly teasing. It’s true, they have an unspoken agreement to not talk about ‘ _this thing_ ’ except upon pain of death.

“Talk about _what_?” she asks, as they both laugh to break the tension. The kid lets out a yawn and adjusts on her chest and they both freeze until they’re sure he’s not waking up.

“Maybe I want to talk about it, now,” she says, challengingly, once the kid is firmly asleep again. He can’t help but move with her again, loving the way she feels pressed against him and following his lead.

“Maybe I do to,” he says, quietly. He focuses on looking at the little hairs on Bean’s head because it’s easier than focusing on her beautiful face. He’s still pressed up against her, but he can see her face in profile.

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it when I’m holding a baby though,” she reasons. Even putting it off another hour is still progress for them; at least they’ve acknowledged there’s _something_ they want to talk about and _something_ they’re putting off. What this ‘ _something_ ’ is exactly, that’s the million dollar question they already know the answer to.

Din’s intrigued though. Why doesn’t she want to talk while holding Bean? Does she think they’re going to exchange colorful words? ‘ _Fine, I’ll bite_ ,’ he thinks to himself.

“Why not when you’re holding him?”

The smile on her face is enough to give him a hint where this is going before she even says a word. “Because when we do, we’re either going to end up on the mat or on the bed, and he shouldn’t really see the outcome of either of those.”

That wasn’t quite what he expected her to say, but he found it surprisingly accurate. He needed to take a step back from her soon before he heard her say the word ‘ _bed_ ’ again. Unfortunately, his brain was now stuck on that visual and he couldn’t seem to get past it. He takes a step back, but as soon as he does there’s a pair of huge dark eyes peeking over Cara’s shoulder staring at him disapprovingly. He steps back into her and the eyes close again. Cara’s head was turned so she saw the whole thing too. _So this is how it’s going to be, huh kid….._

“Well,” he concludes with a sigh, “he won’t sleep for _you_ and he won’t sleep for _me_ , so what do we do? It only seems like he’ll stay asleep when we’re together.”

“He obviously wants up to sleep together, can’t argue with that,” Cara says, and he can hear the teasing humor behind her words.

“Thought you weren't going to talk about it holding the kid,” he teases her, unsure if she laid that one out for hm to walk into or not. He has his answer when she elbows him good-naturedly and he sees her bite her lip to cover her grin.

“I’m just not sure what he wants,” she clarifies. “He won't let me lay him down at all. I even tried lying down next to him too. I hope he doesn't have an ear infection or something.” She sounds frustrated, that’s for sure, but it’s the underlying worry that get’s Din’s attention. For all her playful words and mild complaints, she’s worried about Bean underneath it all.

“I’m sure that’s not it,” Din says assuredly. “We check his ears all the time with the flashlight and he takes more baths than the two of us combined. There’s no smell, no drainage, and he doesn’t seem to be in pain; he just wants to be cuddled.” Din has a theory. “He's getting so spoiled with how we hold him all the time, maybe that’s all this is. If he sees that he can get away with be held like this all night instead of sleeping in his bed, we might never get to sleep again. Maybe we’re spoiling hm too much.” 

Cara nods at his assessment of the kid’s well-being. She agrees he doesn’t seem sick, but she has to disagree with Din thinking maybe they’re spoiling him too much.

“I don't mind a little discomfort if it means he feels safe and loved,” she states, hoping Din doesn’t think she’s actually complaining about staying up with the kid. “After the life he's had, the shit he’s seen, and the people that have hurt him, it’s the least I can do to show him things are different now. He reaches for us because he knows he’s safe with us, so if he wants to be held then I’ll hold him, even if I have to sit in the chair all night to do it. And if he needs me to dance all over this floor like an idiot and hum off-tune songs I can’t remember the words to so he feels safe, then I’ll do that too.” As an afterthought she adds, “sorry about my voice by the way, I hope you can just tune it out.”

‘ _There must be dust in the air from all the crates they opened today or something_ ,’ Din thought as he felt his eyes get strangely moist.

He had to say something before she closed back up and he missed his chance. She didn’t say things like that often. “I don't tell you this enough Cara, but you're amazing, _really_. I'm so glad you decided to stay with us.”

“Oh, shut up,” she laughs, as she thinks he's joking.

“I'm being serious,” he insists, without wanting to draw attention to her in a way that would make her feel embarrassed. “You’re so good with him and so patient…….” He hesitates for just a second before deciding to say what he really means.

“Not just with him……. but with me. Thank you.”

Her instinct was to joke about having the patience of a saint or to tease him about being a sentimental idiot, but he seemed serious for some reason and she wanted to show him she could be serious too when the occasion called for it.

“Yeah well,” she says awkwardly, before reaching up to scratch the back of her neck, “you both make it easy.” She takes a step toward the table and moves to pull out a chair to admit defeat and settle in for the night. The kid keeps waking up intermittently and reaching for Din, but he can’t get them both. ‘ _Maybe if Din is just within his line of sight, that will satisfy him_ ,’ she thinks.

Din can see her plan. “You can't sit in the chair all night,” he said, “at least sit in your bed where it’s comfortable”

“Even then, I'm still leaning against the wall.... my back will hate me tomorrow either way.” _Getting older sucks._

“I'll sit behind you.” The words just left his mouth without him even noticing.

“In my bed?” she asked, “with your back against the wall? Then _you'll_ be uncomfortable.”

“Worth it,” he said, a little too quickly for someone volunteering to sacrifice his spine to be her pillow. He amends his statement, “like you said, it’s worth it to make the kid feel safe......and to-----” He hesitates again, but maybe it’s the sleep deprivation or her honest words from earlier that encourage him to complete what he started to say, “………and to have an excuse to be close to you....”

She didn’t say anything at first; she just smiled before she looked down at her feet. “Come on then,” she said, as she walked to her bunk, still carrying the kid who refused to keep his eyes closed. Din walked behind her until they got to her bed where he climbed in first and got into a comfortable sitting position against the far wall in the dark. Cara climbed in next and settled her back against his chest and tugged at the blankets with her hand that wasn’t holding Bean. Din saw her struggling and reached around to pull her blankets around them both. Once they got comfortable and warm under the blanket, he reached up to remove his helmet and put his arm around Cara to place his large hand across the kid’s back to reassure him they were both there. Even in the dark, he could see the kid’s dark shiny eyes flutter closed. They both chuckled at the content sound the kid made when he realized they would all be sleeping together tonight. It didn’t even take a full minute before he was snoring against her chest. _Okay, so he might be slightly spoiled. Either that or he just played them both……_

Assured that Bean was finally out, Cara relaxed her head back against Din’s shoulder and her head naturally turned into his neck seeking out his warmth. In an effort to not wake the kid, she quietly said into Din’s neck, “you know you don't _need_ an excuse, right?” She moved his other arm to wrap around her stomach to loosely hold her against him through the night.

“I don't?” _What did she mean? Did she mean ‘he didn’t need an excuse to get close to her, to touch her?’ Maybe he was misreading her words. He must have misheard her._

“I want to be close to you too and I like touching you. We can even talk about it at some point, if you like......” she said seriously.

“…….. or not……that actually seems more like us,” she adds teasingly as a second option, with a smile gracing her face once more.

“Really?” he sounded surprised. “We can talk about it like actual functional adults? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

She had to laugh at his description of the pair of them. “Well I don't know how much of a functional adult I am, but yeah, I’ll try if you want me to.”

She feels herself slipping back into jokes and deflecting and she forces herself to stay in the moment as he intends it to be. “You and the kid are important to me Din. I just don't want to fuck this up like I’ve fucked up everything else I’ve ever touched.”

“I feel the same way, you're not alone.” Din’s still amazed all these months later how she still looks at him like he isn’t just as damaged as she claims to be.

“You know you’re my friend,” she tries to explain, “but more and more it feels like it's not _just_ friendship. When you touch me lately....it's like............” she trails off, as she doesn’t have the words to describe it.

He takes pity on her loss for words and jumps in. “I feel it to.... and I can’t explain it either. Seems like we feel the same thing though.”

If he feels it too, then she can be brave; though a voice in her head says ‘ _it’s not really bravery if he’s already made his feelings clear_ ’. She’ll go for it anyway. “Maybe we can start touching more often? See where it goes? I trust you Din, you know that, and I trust _us_.”

“I trust _us_ too,” he says, “and I'd like that. A lot. If you’re sure….”

“Tomorrow, then?” she asks sleepily, just double checking they were actually doing this. Maybe they don't even have to talk about it if they know they both want the same thing now. _Maybe she dodged that bullet._

“Tomorrow,” he replies.

He says it with so much promise, it sounds like some kind of vow. _It is in a way, he supposes._ Things will be different from here on out, as they just made their first conscious choice to move things in a new direction. He tries to will himself asleep faster so that when he opens his eyes it’s ‘ _tomorrow_ ’. The two warm bodies sleeping against him help him drift off easier than he can remember ever falling asleep before. _Maybe this can be a new thing starting tomorrow too……._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Comments make my day, so thank you !
> 
> Until next time :)


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